Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-16
THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH,

THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH.
Senator Collum has given the country
notice that at this session of Congress he
will make an effort to resuscitate the
long quiescent "postsl telegraph bill''
and urge it's incorporation into the laws
Of the country. The distinguished Sena-
tor is not alone in believing that postal
telegraph system would rebound to the
interest OF the country. Many leading
newspapers, and many leading statesmen
(whose opinions, by the way, are merely
the towering of public opinion as ex-
pressed in the newspspersl, are heartily
in favor of placing the control OF the tele.
graphs Of the country in the hands Of the
government. They argue, and with much
show Of reason, that a telegraph monop-
oily is Incompatible with our ideas of q
republican form of government; that it
binary power In the hands Of
officials OF the peoples own selec-
ton than to entrust it to tel
egraph magnates; that il paternaIism
must be endured, Uncle Sam will make
US better father than Jay Gould; that
8 government telegraph would be saw
ing to the people and that this is the
countrY's only salvation from complete
surrender to an ever growing monopoly.
They are not demsgogues who thus
argue: They are honest, sincere and able
men. They are striving hard to shield
the country from what they deem pres
ent, or surely, an impending evil. They
are as are all the American people jealous
of their rights, Inherently opposed, to
monopoly in any form, and ready at all
times to fortify the country against the
encroachments Of organized millions.
But they are taking the wrong course.
They are pulling manfullY from the Scylla
of private monopoly, only to be dashed to
pieces upon the treacherous Charybdis of
governmental monopoly. They are labor
ing to take from the hands of individuals,
where it is always subject to
governmental control, a power
which they fear, and place it IN
the hands CT government officials who are
practically superior to all law in the man
agement of the various departments of
the government over which they preside.
Starting from wrong premises, their con-
illusions are naturally erroneous. There
is no such thing as a telegraph monopoly
in this country. Companies are absorbed
as fast as they arise, but it is because that
they make money by it. II the American
people really thought that the Western
Union was monopoly, that company
would starve to death in six months and
another would be built and supported.
AS to the abuse of power placed In the
hands of telegraph officials, it is wonder
fully exaggerated and oftentlmes purely
imaginary. The men who actually see
and handle the communications sent from
one person to another care very little
what they contain and get rid of them me-
Chemically as speedily as possible. fJay
Gould were to ask telegraph manager
for q copy of q telegram sent or received
that manager would refuse to give it and
grow famous by it. In Republican states
the telegraph companies are charged
with tsmpering with election returns to
suit the Republicans, and in Democratic
states vice versa. This is the silliest
bosh! AS to the saving part, the exper-
fence Of England cannot be given as an
example. Starting out with an expense
of s54 400, 1855 for the purchase of the
plant, it has never proved self-sustaining.
A few figures will show the way England's
government telegraph has been carried
on. The annual deficits ranged from
1852, 625 in 1881 to the enormous sum of
So, 349, 200 in 1885. This deficit must be
paid by the people at large, majority of
whom never use the telegraph. Hence
the injustice. But aside from al consid-
erations of expediency and pecuniary ad-
Nout0SC tuC OhS OuCSblOu WulSu 4asSS
above and dominates all others is not
economic, but political, and should be
looked upon, not from selfish stand
point, but in the light of patriot
ism, is the fact that the coun-
try has more to fear from
despotism than from gov
weakness. The strength and
stay of republics is in the sturdy indi-
of the citizen. Take from the
individual all power and you make OF him
, serf. Concentrate all power il the
government and we are no longer free
men. Every voter is political factor,
at least, and relatively con-